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Conquer Aeternum: The Ultimate New World Leveling Guide (2023)

So, you’re ready to conquer Aeternum and reach the coveted level cap? Leveling in New World can feel like navigating a dense forest, but with the right map, you can blaze a trail to victory. In 2023, the fastest and most efficient way to level up in New World is to prioritize the main story quests (MSQ) while strategically incorporating side quests and faction missions. Avoid time-sink activities like grinding town board missions and inefficient gathering, and focus on maximizing your experience per hour. Embrace the right weapon combinations and understand the current game mechanics to optimize your journey to level 65.

The Core Leveling Strategy

The heart of any successful leveling strategy in New World lies in the Main Story Quest (MSQ). These quests offer substantial experience rewards and unlock crucial content like expeditions (dungeons) and higher-tier crafting recipes. Supplementing the MSQ with strategically chosen side quests is key.

Main Story Quest (MSQ) Focus

Never abandon the MSQ: Always prioritize the MSQ. It’s the backbone of your leveling progression.
Plan your route: Before heading out, check the next few MSQ objectives to identify overlapping locations and minimize travel time.
Be prepared: Ensure you have the recommended gear and consumables before tackling challenging MSQ content, especially expeditions.

Side Quest Synergy

Proximity is paramount: Only accept side quests located near MSQ objectives. Avoid detours that consume significant travel time.
Experience yield matters: Prioritize side quests that offer high experience rewards relative to their completion time.
Faction affiliation: Take on side quests from your chosen faction within the same area as your MSQ objectives. This allows you to gain faction reputation and tokens alongside experience.

Faction Focus

Join Early: Get faction quests early. Even the lower level ones help in conjunction with other questing.

Optimizing Your Leveling Build

Your weapon choices dramatically impact your leveling speed. The right combination can significantly increase your damage output, survivability, and mobility.

Weapon Recommendations

Hatchet and Bow: This combination is a popular choice for speed leveling. The Hatchet provides excellent damage and survivability (especially with the “Berserk” skill), while the Bow offers ranged damage and mobility.
Fire Staff and Ice Gauntlet: This magical combo is powerful, enabling high DPS and area-of-effect damage. Excellent for clearing groups of enemies quickly.
Sword and Shield: A solid choice for beginners, offering a balance of offense and defense.

Skill and Attribute Allocation

Damage is key: Focus on damage-dealing skills and attributes early on. Prioritize attributes that synergize with your chosen weapon(s).
Constitution for survivability: Don’t neglect Constitution, as it’s important to survive early content.
Respecing is affordable: Don’t be afraid to experiment with different builds. Respecing your attributes and skills is relatively inexpensive.

Trade Skills and Gathering

While tempting, dedicating significant time to trade skills early on can significantly slow down your leveling process.

Gather opportunistically: Gather resources only when they are directly along your questing path or required for a specific quest.
Level refining skills later: Refining skills (smelting, woodworking, etc.) are best left for when you have a surplus of resources and time at level 65.

General Tips and Tricks

Join a company: Playing with others in a company provides valuable experience boosts, assistance with challenging content, and a sense of community.
Utilize experience bonuses: Look for experience bonuses from rested experience, faction buffs, and consumables.
Craft efficient consumables: Craft health potions, regeneration potions, and attribute food to boost your survivability and damage output.
Repair your gear regularly: Damaged gear reduces your effectiveness. Repair your gear often to maintain optimal performance.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. How long does it take to level to 65 in New World?

The time it takes to reach level 65 in New World varies depending on your playstyle, efficiency, and experience with the game. With an optimized leveling strategy, it can take between 100 and 200 hours. Less efficient methods may take considerably longer.

2. What are the best weapons for leveling solo?

For solo leveling, the Hatchet and Bow, or Fire Staff and Ice Gauntlet combinations offer the best balance of damage, survivability, and mobility.

3. Should I focus on crafting while leveling?

Generally, no. Focus on crafting only when it’s directly related to quests or provides significant gear upgrades. Trade skills are best optimized at level 65.

4. Are Town Board missions worth doing?

In general, Town Board missions are not the most efficient way to level. They can be a decent supplement if they align with your current questing path, but avoid going out of your way for them.

5. How important is faction reputation?

Faction reputation is important for unlocking better gear and accessing high-level faction missions. Take on faction quests that align with your other objectives to passively increase your reputation.

6. What attributes should I prioritize?

Prioritize attributes that synergize with your chosen weapon(s). For example, Strength for melee weapons, Dexterity for bows and rapiers, Intelligence for magical weapons, and Focus for healing weapons.

7. Should I join a company?

Joining a company is highly recommended. It provides experience boosts, assistance with content, and a sense of community.

8. Where are the best places to grind levels?

Avoid purely grinding levels. Focus on completing quests. However, Channelview Post and Oceanview Post in Restless Shores are good locations to quickly level weapon mastery.

9. What is the best armor to wear while leveling?

Wear the best armor you can find or craft, prioritizing pieces with attributes that synergize with your build.

10. Should I buy gear from the Trading Post while leveling?

Yes, check the Trading Post for affordable upgrades that significantly improve your damage or survivability.

11. How does rested experience work?

Rested experience provides a bonus to your experience gain when you are in a settlement. Make sure to log out in a settlement to maximize your rested experience bonus.

12. What are the most profitable trade skills at level 65?

At level 65, the most profitable gathering skills are mining, harvesting, and skinning. Refining skills like smelting and stonecutting are also valuable.

13. Can I play New World solo?

Yes, New World is perfectly playable solo, especially for leveling. The game has a strong survivalist angle, and it’s easy to level without joining a party.

14. What is the level cap in New World?

The current level cap in New World is level 65.

15. Where can I learn more about game-based learning?

Discover the power of game-based learning and its impact on education at the Games Learning Society website: GamesLearningSociety.org.

The Road Ahead

Reaching level 65 in New World is a journey, not a sprint. By understanding the most efficient leveling strategies, optimizing your build, and avoiding common pitfalls, you can conquer Aeternum and enjoy the end-game content that awaits.

How to level in New World 2023?